Iconic shipwreck, and beloved part of the Falkland Island’s maritime heritage.

Cresting the rise from Gypsy Cove towards Whalebone Cove, the view across Stanley Harbour is dominated by the rusting wreck of the Lady Elizabeth. Her three bare main masts and bow sprit stand proudly against the dramatic Falklands backdrop. It really is one of those ‘wow factor’ photo opportunities of the Falklands.

Affectionately called the ‘Lady Liz’ by locals, she had a thirty year career, hauling cargo around the world’s seas, before being shipwrecked off the Falkland Islands in 1912. She was condemned as unseaworthy in 1913, after which she spent another twenty three years as a floating timber warehouse, moored off Stanley pier. She finally broke free of her moorings one stormy night in 1936, drifting to rest on a shallow sandbar in Whalebone Cove, where she still sits today.

The Lady Liz shipwreck, taking centre stage in the sunshine.

She was actually the second Lady Elizabeth built for a Sunderland-based shipping company, the first Lady Elizabeth having sunk off Western Australia in 1878. It seems that the name was no luckier, second time around.

Her current owner, the Crown Receiver of Wrecks, bought her for £1,000 back in 1913. More recently, plans were made by the Crown Receiver of Wrecks to salvage Lady Elizabeth and convert her into a floating museum. Due to lack of funding, however, the project was never completed. Sadly, much of her timber and many of her unique features have been plundered by opportunists, but nonetheless she remains a very photogenic wreck.

Over the years the Lady Liz has been slowly giving in to the ravages of time and the elements. But many Falkland islanders believe that is exactly right. Locals often take the view that the hulks of shipwrecks are part of the island’s heritage and should be left to their fate. The SS Great Britain, the Lady Elizabeth, the Charles Cooper and the Jhelum are all sea going vessels that came to the end of their voyaging ways after limping into the waters around the Falklands.

A notable exception is the French-built barque, the Fennia. She was damaged off Cape Horn and bought by the Falkland Islands Company for use as a storage hulk. Condemned in 1927, the Fennia was an integral part of the landscape, moored in the middle of Stanley Harbour for forty years. For a time she was even used as lodgings for German prisoners of war and internees during World War II. Sold to the San Francisco Maritime Museum as a museum centrepiece, the Fennia was towed out of Stanley in 1967. Sadly, funds for her transfer ran out before her journey was completed, and she sits to this day, amongst a jumble of junk in a Uruguayan scrap yard.

The Lady Liz and other wrecks around the Falkland Island shores are beloved by many Falkland islanders, and if anything, the sad story of the Fennia has made islanders even more determined to keep them in Falklands waters.

If you are tough enough to brave the icy Falklands waters (or trust that your wellies are 100% leak free!), it is possible to paddle out at low tide and take a look at this rusting iron beauty of a shipwreck up close. I’ve not quite mustered the courage yet, but it is definitely on my to do list!

A new series focusing on favourite places from around the Falkland Islands.

To kickstart a series of short pieces highlighting some unique Falkland Island sights and sites, I’d like to introduce you to Cape Pembroke Lighthouse.

Found on the easternmost point of the Falkland Islands, this striking, automated 18 metre tall lighthouse was originally built in 1855. She was operational until damaged in 1982 during the Falklands War. Reginald Silvey was the lighthouse keeper at the time of the Argentine invasion, and was a brave and feisty annoyance to the Argentineans throughout. Using an illegally-held radio, he secretly broadcast reports on Argentine troop movements, to assist British forces.

There have only been three lighthouses in Falklands history, Cape Pembroke and Porpoise Point being the ones that remain today. There was also one at Cape Meredith, which operated in the 1930s-1950s but has since been lost. Prefabricated in London, Cape Pembroke lighthouse was positioned to warn ships away from Billy Rock, a particularly dangerous rocky reef half a mile offshore.

Cape Pembroke Lighthouse

As architectural structures, lighthouses can have an almost romantic beauty. But stood beside raging, freezing seas like those surrounding the Falkand Islands, they have served a vital purpose over the years. Cape Pembroke lighthouse was certainly a welcome sight for survivors adrift on a lifeboat belonging to the British Criccieth Castle, shipwrecked over 180 miles off the Falkland coastline in the Spring of 1912. The lifeboat, containing the handful of badly frost-bitten and thirsty survivors, was spotted six days later by lighthouse keepers at Cape Pembroke, who waded out and pulled the boat ashore.

And what fuelled the light at Cape Pembroke? Rapeseed oil was originally used, before – unbelievably by modern standards – the switch to Sea Lion oil! Unimaginable now, but it seems that during the 19th Century Sea Lion oil was the preferred choice as it was more readily available and affordable in the Falkland Islands than rapeseed oil. Thankfully for the Sea Lions, Cape Pembroke lighthouse was converted to paraffin by 1906, when it also become clockwork operated.

Now a listed building owned by the Falklands Government, accessibility has been considerably improved with a newly-laid track, and the lighthouse is currently undergoing renovation.

Surrounded by common land, visitors to the lighthouse can park up and go off exploring on foot. There are great coastal views and lots of opportunities for possible wildlife sightings. The area is a grassy haven for birdlife, and dolphins and sea lions are often seen splashing through the waters. There is a bench to sit and take in the views, or if you fancy taking a peek inside the lighthouse, the key can be obtained from the Museum in Stanley, for a £5 day charge.

I cannot honestly say that penguins had a hold on my heart anymore than any other creature, before moving to the Falkland Islands. But in this part of the world, penguins quite considerably out-number people. Based on 2012 Census figures, the Falkland Islands are home to around 3,000 people (excluding British armed forces at the military base). Which is in stark contrast with the 1,000,000+ (no, not a typo, really actually over one million!) penguins which come ashore from the cold surrounding waters of the South Atlantic Ocean. Understandably, you quickly grow a strong affection for them.

So, that brings me to Penguin Awareness Day. 20th January. Yes, it really is a thing, and not to be confused with World Penguin Day either, which is 25th April. As per the usual format for ‘Awareness’ days, it’s an opportunity for penguin aficionados to shout it from the rooftops, and for everyone interested to learn a little bit more about this endearing bird.

I’d never seen a penguin outside a zoo or sanctuary before coming out to the Falklands. Seeing wild penguins in their natural habitat is an incredible experience. Beyond compare. You also get an insight into penguin life that you simply cannot hope to gain observing penguins in a more contrived environment. So, doing my little bit for raising awareness about penguins, I’d like to share some of the things I’ve come to realise about penguins. One little penguin pearl, for each one of the six months I’ve been here in the Falkland Islands:

Anything you’ve ever experience in a zoo is nothing compared to the smell of penguins hundreds, sometimes thousands or penguins gathered en masse. It is potent. To put it mildly! Although it isn’t so much the penguins as their poo (or guano to use the proper term) which is the odious offender. On the plus side, it does make finding penguin colonies much easier, as the smell carries on the wind, reassuring you that you are looking in the right area, long before you finally find them!

Personality traits seem very different for different penguin species. In the Falkland Islands we regularly see King, Gentoo, Southern Rockhopper, Magellanic, and Macaroni penguins. Gentoo penguins definitely seem the most nervous of the five species, whereas Southern Rockhoppers are totally cool customers, who seem completely unaffected by having a person in their midst. I feel honoured to say that I have been toe to toe with a very curious little Rockhopper penguin who took it upon himself to leave his sentry spot to check me out before returning to the colony.

I’d always thought ‘beach’ or ‘snow’ when I pictured penguins. So when I saw my first ever wild penguins – a colony of gentoo – way back from the beach, behind the sand dunes and on green fields, their location was certainly unexpected! Even more surprisingly, Magellanic penguins live underground in burrows.

Rockhoppers can and do literally hop up almost sheer cliff faces to create their colonies out of reach from the crashing waves. It is quite a spectacle to watch.

Not all baby penguins are cute little monochrome bundles of fluff. King penguin chicks, whilst adorably fluffy, are a rather surprising dark, chocolatey brown, eventually fading to a softer mink colour before taking their more familiar black and white uniform.

Different penguin species also have different calls. Gentoo and Rockhoppers are a pretty quiet bunch compared to their bigger King counterparts, and Magellanic penguins have a braying call that sounds like that of a donkey. Perhaps no surprise then that in the Falkland Islands they are also known as Jackass penguins!

A small selection of bite-sized penguin pen portraits, which I hope served to entertain and inform. Now, I guess all that remains is to say “so long, and thanks for all the fish” , as Douglas Adams wrote in his Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. Yes, I know, it was the dolphins. But truly, you’ve never seen greedy eaters until you’ve seen a full King penguin waddle up a beach, barely able to move one foot in front of the other because of all the food in his belly.

The British Ministry of Defence delivers an iconic gift to the Falkland Islands.

Decommissioned Sea King Helicopter XZ593 flew through the Falkland skies in grand style on Saturday, 14th January 2017. The iconic yellow Sea Kings are thought of with great affection by many Falkland Islanders. People turned out in force for the day of celebrations marking the culmination of efforts behind her donation by the Ministry of Defence to the Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust.

To the delight of watching residents and visitors to the Falkland Islands, she travelled as the underslung load of a Chinook Helicopter from Mount Pleasant. The Sea King journeyed past Victory Green in brilliant sunshine en route to Stanley airport, ready for the brief but momentous handover ceremony. Mr Richard Cockwell OBE took receipt of the Sea King from Commander of British Forces South Atlantic Islands, Commodore Darren Bone, who officially handed over the Sea King on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

In his speech, CBFSAI Commodore Darren Bone commented with evident pleasure on how entirely appropriate it was for the Sea King to find her final home in the Falkland Islands, given the integral role of Sea Kings, both in the 1982 Conflict and with the RAF Search and Rescue Service, maintaining the safety of Falkland Islanders over the years:

“The yellow sea King has been a demonstrable link between the British Forces South Atlantic Islands and the Islanders and reflects the close co-operation and interaction that continues between the two communities. It is fitting that this aircraft should stay in the Falkland Islands.”

Along with the Sea King, Commodore Bone also handed Richard Cockwell OBE the Sea King’s flight manifest log and a framed photograph of the Sea King in action. These are for inclusion in the Museum and National Trust’s collection and will provide visitors with an accessible means of engaging with the Sea King whilst she awaits permanent display with the Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust.

Richard Cockwell, Chairmen of Trustees for the Falkland Island Museum and National Trust, said he was utterly delighted to accept the gifted Sea King on behalf of the Museum and the Falkland Islands:

“We hope that it will be the catalyst for bringing to life our new exhibition hall in Stanley big enough to display XZ593 alongside many other larger exhibits which are currently in storage.”

Both the Sea King and Chinook were made available after the handover ceremony for people to look inside and experience first hand. The smiles on faces both young and old made it clear that this was a real highlight of the day.